Treading Water
by cureampaffu
Summary: Pirate AU! Ryou and Amane Brooker are snatched from their home a seaside village by pirates. Their parents were murdered, their village burned to the ground. They are now captives of Captain Touzoku Bakura and first mate Mariku Ishtar. They have to live.


**I fucking love pirates. So, here's a Bakura x Amane and Mariku x Ryou pirate story! I'll try to draw some examples of the fours outfits, as well. Please read this, it means a lot to me!**

-oOo-

An old looking ship floated alone in the calm blue sea lazily, its tattered sail blowing slightly in the small breeze. There were no other ships in sigh – the Saint Mary had been stranded in the sea unexpectedly and food was running low. After all, the Saint Mary hadn't been meant for seafaring, not really.

The dark haired captain of the Saint Mary sighed, pulling slightly on his beard, and leant against the old wooden railing. He stood like that for a while, stoically trying his best to ignore the painful gnawing in his stomach, until a shout from the crow's nest shocked him upright.

"There's a ship!" The sailor sounded excited. "Ship at four o'clock!"

The captain grinned up at the sailor and hurried over to take the wheel. He spun it towards the other ship, and the two vessels slowly sailed towards each other. Both ships stopped next to each other, and the unknown ship let down a board.

What looked like the captain and his slave crossed the plank onto the deck of the Saint Mary. The other captain's mahogany eyes twinkled merrily at the dark haired captain, and the man pushed back a shiny lock of ivory hair.

"I noticed your emergency flag was up. " The white haired man explained with a suave tone and a smooth British accent. "What's the problem?"

The other captain hesitated – a part of him didn't trust this man for some reason. But that was ridiculous. "We've been stranded at sea for around three weeks. Our food supplies are running low. If you have any you could spare, please –"

"How many men are on your boat?" The white haired captain frowned.

"Around thirty."

"We have enough food to spare." The captain wound a strand of snowy hair around a pale and bony finger, and turned to the caramel-skinned man that was most likely his slave. "Mariku, would you please go get Malik for me? And tell him to bring some bread for the captain."

Mariku nodded, and crossed back across the plank of wood to his own ship. The pale captain smirked at his retreating back. The captain of the Saint Mary felt the need to intrude here.

"Why did you speak so politely to him? He's your slave, is he not?"

The white haired captain froze and glared at him coldly. The change in his demeanor from charming captain of a ship to someone so icy was scary. "He's not my slave. He's my first mate."

"But he's –"

"He's only African by technicality. Really Egyptian. He's a good bloke, I trust him with my life."

"Alright then."

They stood in silence for a few more minutes as they waited for Mariku to return. The captain of

the Saint Mary felt awkward standing there with the other captain's icy glare on him.

"So, uh, I'm Charlie. Who're you, again?"

"I didn't give my name. You can wait until Mariku gets back for introduction."

Around six more minutes past until Mariku returned, crossing the board with a scrap of a child close behind him. The child held a small warm loaf of bread in his tan hands, and he pushed the bread into Charlie's hand. Charlie thanked the child before hastily tearing into the loaf. He was so preoccupied, earing the bread, that he hardly noticed the foreign ivory haired captain draw his blade until the short sword was pressed up against his throat.

"W-what are you doing?" Charlie asked fearfully.

"I'm introducing myself." The white haired captain smiled nicely at him. "My name is Touzoku Bakura, captain of the Black Gem. That's my first mate, Mariku, and his little brother Malik. You and all of your men are about to die."

With that, Charlie's throat was slit.

Forty five minutes later, Malik ran across the board, his small tan arms full of pistols. Mariku followed his brother with two barrels of gunpowder, his purple coat swirling behind him, blurring the black embroidery. Soon after, a figure in a dark blue cloak with white trim dashed madly across the board, and grinned at the pile of cadavers on the bloodied deck. As Malik watched from the deck of the pirate ship, Bakura turned to throw a match onto the old wooden ship.

Within seconds, the Saint Mary was engulfed in flames, and the Black Gem floated away. Bakura stayed glued to the iron railings, watching the burning ship drift off.

And then the sea was once again calm and empty.

-oOo-

Ryou turned yet another page of the old book, his eyes hungrily devouring the words of the epic tale. It was Shakespeare, with thin pages and untidy text. The lithe fourteen year old was surrounded by flickering candles and a small china cup with a little bit of ale next to him.

The silver haired boy looked up to the window and sighed before shutting the book and caressing the cracked leather cover. Ryou hugged it to his chest before standing up. He wearily blew out the candles and collapsed onto an old chaise lounge, the book still held tightly in his arms. Sleep wouldn't come to the teenager, though, and he found himself still awake when there was pounding on his front door.

Perhaps he shouldn't have drank that bit of ale, then, or maybe it was his sleepiness that did him in, for Ryou had been told to always ask who it was before opening the door. But this time he didn't. This time, he just sleepily got up and crossed the room before opening the door.

How he wished he hadn't.

Two men stood there, one with sandy blonde spikes and tan skin with a scarily determined face, one with a black ponytail and a rather…large…knife. Ryou stared at the two men speechlessly before letting out a shriek of surprise.

_Pirates_.

He had to wake up his father, mother, and sister somehow, but they were upstairs. Ryou screamed again and stumbled away from the door, turning and bolting for the staircase. Another shrill cry fought its way out of his throat as the back of his nightshirt was grabbed and he was yanked to the floor by the caramel-skinned man. Ryou was about to scream once more, when the large knife was held against his throat. His coffee brown eyes widened and all that came out was a strangled sob.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, his family had already woken. He knew it when he saw an incredibly pale figure at the top of the staircase. Amane appeared to be a ghost, almost, with her white curls, pale blue eyes, impossibly white skin and white nightgown with a soft pink ribbon in her hair. Her blue eyes shot open and she shrieked so much louder than Ryou could and ran off in the direction of their parents' bedroom.

The pirate with the black ponytail cursed and handed the knife over to the caramel-skinned man. He dashed up the steps unbelievably fast, and followed Ryou's sister.

The pirate on top of Ryou leant up and grabbed a loop of something off of his belt. _Rope._ Ryou was never one for cursing but, _shit shit shit shit shit._ Ryou began to struggle violently, but the tan man wasn't budged an inch. The pirate cut a length of rope off of the loop and replaced the rope back onto his belt. Ryou flailed even more intensely, and cursed himself as his limbs began to tire. The pirate used the rope and tied Ryou's arms to his sides. Ryou's brown eyes filled with tears, but the man was distracted enough with tying a tight knot that when Ryou's knee jerked up into his crotch, it was unexpected.

The pirate rolled off of Ryou in his pain, and Ryou struggled to sit up immediately. Unfortunately for him, the other man managed to get up first, and a whimper was torn out of Ryou's throat as the pirate grabbed his silvery hair. More tears streamed down Ryou's face as the black haired pirate came down the stairs, with his sister slung over his shoulder like a sack of flour and fresh blood on his sword.

"The parents of them two are dead now." The black haired man smiled a snake's smile. "Father was a pansy, mum was a sniveling mess, and this little pretty just trembled in the corner."

"Good. Go see if they have any food in the kitchen. I'll tie up the little girl."

"Right." The black haired pirate said as he yanked Amane off of his shoulder and threw her at the other pirate before moving into the kitchen.

Before he tied Amane up, though, he let go of Ryou's hair and shoved him roughly back onto the floor. Amane stared desperately at her brother with wide blue eyes before the tan pirate tied her arms behind her back. He winked at her in a way that seemed scarily nice. "Just for your own reassurance, girly, I'll tie your ankles up too."

Amane's muscles relaxed by a small fraction as the pirate tied her ankles together tightly. Ryou was confused for a minute, then rather angry and grateful at the same time. The other man came in from the kitchen with a barrel of flour, and a bucket of apples before going back in and balancing a smaller barrel of sugar over the much larger barrel of salted pork. "These should be good enough for the cap'n, right?"

The tan man nodded. "We should get these two," he gestured to Ryou and Amane, "down there first. Then we can carry the food down quicker."

"Alright." The other pirate agreed. "I'll get the little bit of a girl." He slung Amane back over his shoulder.

"Then I'll be taking the boy-thing?" It wasn't really a question, for Ryou found himself picked up and cradled in the man's arms almost immediately.

Ryou began fighting to get out of the man's loose grip, only to have his grip tighten. He glanced over at Amane and was shocked to see that she wasn't even sniffling back tears. He took in the rest of her expression, then, and guessed that the thirteen year old girl was in shock. Ryou glared up at the man who held him, who reacted with amusement as the door was opened and the two pirates stalked down the street.

Ryou could hear crying, screaming, and sickening squishes, along with the rustling of large fires. God, they were razing his village! There was a large boat docked at the end of the wharf, with a smaller ship attached to it, designed to be pulled up or down to let men or cargo up. Men were filling it with firearms and barrel. The two pirates came closer and closer until they could set the two children down in it.

"Don't pull it up just yet." The black haired man said as he fumbled his arm around in a barrel. He leered at the two siblings as he pulled out a flask of something syrupy. The pirate uncapped it and sniffed it appreciatively. "This _is_ the stuff, right?"

"Right." The tanner man confirmed.

"Alright then, kiddos, drink up." He held the bottle up to Ryou's mouth and frowned when Ryou wouldn't open up. "Come on."

Ryou shook his head in defiance – he would _not_ drink whatever was in that flask. The caramel-skinned man let out a _tsk___and frowned at him. The blonde man bent down and threatened quietly into Ryou's ear, "You either drink some of that out of the bottle, or we knock you out with something blunt; or maybe we could just slit you and your sister's throat?"

Ryou's eyes got impossibly wide, and he reluctantly opened his mouth. A large amount of the brown viscous liquid was poured down his throat, and Ryou winced at the bitter and unpleasant taste. The bottle was pulled away and pressed to Amane's pale pink lips. She glared at the black haired pirate before allowing him to pour an amount of the syrup into her own mouth. She swallowed immediately to not have the repulsive flavor on her tongue for longer than necessary.

When the world started to become fuzzy shortly afterwards, Ryou was not surprised. He had known that the syrupy liquid would have an effect like that. He swayed where he was for a few seconds until he collapsed onto his back with his white hair splayed out around his head. Amane cried out before she too fell unconscious. The tan pirate stroked her ivory hair for a few seconds, and lightly caressed Ryou's pale cheek for the same amount of time before turning and walking back with his partner to bring back the food.

-oOo-

Mmm…Amane attempted to roll over on her bed, but found she couldn't. What? Why not? Amane frowned sleepily and tried again. No, she definitely couldn't. Well that was stupid. She wasn't even close to comfortable. Urgh. Amane's pale blue eyes fluttered open and she rubbed her eye with the back of her hand. Or at least, she tried to. Why couldn't she?

Her eyes focused on her dainty wrist of the hand she had attempted to rub her eyes with. Wha – why where her hands tied together? She squirmed on the bed, feeling somewhat relieved when she realized that her ankles were still tied.

With that, all of the memories from the previous night rushed back into her head and she let out a soft gasp. Her brother had been with her, where was her brother? "Ryou?" Amane called out softly in her silvery voice.

No one answered, but a dark figure twitched in the shadows. "W-who are you?" She stuttered, feeling just a little bit frightened and scared. She had every right to be.

A man walked out of the shadows, and he wasn't the tan man from the previous night or the black haired man who had grabbed her. He had hair like Ryou's and her own, a soft frosty white color, and his eyes were a brownish sort of color. Not a good warm color like Ryou's coffee brown, but a reddish brown. Like…dried blood? Maybe. He wore a deep blue coat with a white trim, very fancy looking in Amane's opinion, a matching cap, and grayish pants with soft looking black boots.

He didn't answer for a minute, just watched her as she examined him. "I'm the captain of this ship, girly."

"Oh, I-I see…" Amane's voice trailed off and she was suddenly aware that she was only in her nightclothes. A blush rose towards her cheeks. Then she remembered again what she just went through. Seeing her parents murdered. Being snatched by an unknown man. Watching her brother look so helpless. Kidnapped in her nightgown! Because of…the man in front of her? Amane closed her eyes, steeled herself, tried to hold back the tears. She hardened her voice. "I ask that you release me and my brother at once."

"Bah. You don't need to be so formal." The captain smiled rather lewdly, at her. "What's your name? And your brother's? He hasn't woken up yet."

"I am Amane Elizabeth Brooker, and my brother is Ryou James Brooker. Please, I beg you, release us."

"Sorry girly, can't. And won't."

"Can't? What do you mean, can't?"

"I mean, we're in the middle of the ocean. We can't let you go unless you want to drown." The white haired captain smirked at her.

She stared back, blinking back tears. "…who are you?"

"You've heard of me, I bet." His dreadful smirk grew wider. "Captain Touzoku Bakura of the Black Gem."

Amane's breath hitched in her throat as her few silent tears grew into stifled sobs. S-sh-she'd been kidnapped by one of the fiercest pirates – known infamously throughout England, France, even Spain! Bakura grinned down at her. "Shh, it's okay, love. If we'd been planning to kill you, we would have already. We can't let pretty treasures like you or your brother to go to waste." As he spoke, he stroked the lower half of her leg with a cold hand in what seemed to be meant as a caring gesture. They stayed like that for a while – this Bakura caressing her calves with his cold and disgusting hands while she cried herself dry. It was only interrupted by a knock on the door.

Bakura ceased his ministrations and turned to the door. "C'min."

The black haired pirate from last night opened the door. "The boy-thing just woke up. You want to see him?"

Bakura glanced down at Amane – he seemed conflicted. After a minute of silent warring with himself, he nodded. "Later. Mariku can deal with him for now, Devlin. "

Then the door was shut, and Bakura grinned down at her. "Your brother's up, love."  
>"I know." Amane replied testily. "I can hear, you know."<p>

"Tsk, tsk. Manners."

"I've been kidnapped by pirates who no doubt intend me for…_inappropriate _and _immoral _reasons. I don't think manners are what I should be worrying about."

"But you're a lady. Obviously a noble."

"W-wha?" Amane stammered. She was, but…they lived in a small village. Not where any nobles lived. How -?

"Don't look at me like that, love. It's easy to tell. First of all, your home was much too lavish to be a villager. Your brother was reading Shakespeare when my boys came in. Your nightgown is, well, actually a nightgown, and not just a slip. The way you talk is more proof. And then when my boys went back to get food they also came back with a ton of valuables – jewelry, portraits, china."

Amane scowled up at him and then flinched away when he went back to stroking her leg. "You've got really soft skin too, both you and your brother. Never worked a day in your life, have you?"

Amane refused to say anything. When Bakura tired of petting her legs, he gave a low sigh. "I suppose I'd best go see how Ryou James Brooker is doing then, hm?"

He left, shutting and locking the door behind him. Amane struggled to turn over again, and managed to. She pressed her face into the pillow, and sobbed as quietly as she could.

This was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

-oOo-

Ryou didn't awaken anywhere near as nice as a bed. He woke up being cradled by the same caramel-skinned man from the night before. Ryou's eyes immediately widened, and he began to kick and wriggle, but the man's grasp was firm. Ryou glared at the man's restraining arms, took a deep breath, and – the man's hand was placed firmly over his mouth.

_Shit shit shit shit shit._

Ryou let out the breath that was going to be used for a scream. He forced himself to go limp in the man's grasp. The arms loosened slightly, and Ryou almost smiled into the hand that still covered his mouth. One…two…three.

"OUCH!" The tan man yelled, removing his hand from Ryou's mouth. "Little bugger bit me!"

"I'll go tell Cap'n he's up, then?" Ryou couldn't see who had said it.

"Yeah, go do that." The caramel-skinned man said before taking Ryou's face in his hands. "Don't you _ever_ do something like that again, unless you want to face the consequences, darling. Got it?"

Ryou's coffee brown eyes narrowed, but he nodded.  
>"Good." The man released Ryou's face, and tightened his hold on the boy. "What's your name, anyways, pet?"<p>

"Ryou James Brooker." Ryou said stiffly. "And I have to ask you to let me go. Take me back home."

The man laughed in a very cruel, mocking way. "No no no no no! You're too pretty to just let go once we have you in our grasp."

Ryou frowned and began to squirm again. "At the least, you can let go of me."

"I could." The pirate shrugged with a merry smile on his face. "But you see, I don't think I will."

"Why not?" Ryou insisted, punctuating his question with more squirming.

"I don't want to." The pirate leaned down and slowly ran his tongue across Ryou's cheek. "This is much more fun."

The man pulled back reluctantly when both of them heard clunky footsteps in the distance. "Cap'n~!" He cried out. "Ryou woke up!"

"Yeah, Mariku, I know."

Mariku held Ryou closer to him. "That's the captain, dove. Captain Touzoku Bakura!"

Ryou's eyes widened again. He froze and whispered, "I-I'm on the Black Gem?"

Bakura smiled when he saw the fear in this Ryou's eyes. "Yeah. You are. You're a pretty little thing for a boy, aren't you?" He reached out to stroke Ryou's perfectly alabaster cheek. "Almost as pretty as that snippet of a sister of yours."

Ryou felt anger rising at that statement – calling him girlish, pretty much, and then saying such things about his little sister! The captain paused. "How old are you two anyways? I feel like I should have asked that. Hm."

"I'm fourteen, turning fifteen in two months. Amane just turned thirteen."

"Oh. That's okay then. I won't feel quite as bad later on."

Ryou snarled quietly at the man, and then wondered at what he had done. That snarl was certainly out of character from him. Bakura grinned at Ryou and began to pet his hair. "You and your sister have hair just like mine. It's a strange thing…"

Ryou was taken aback. Did his captor/captain really have the same color hair? He really hadn't been paying attention. So he began to look the man over.

Blue coat, gray pants, blue cap, black boots. Ahh yes, he did have silvery hair, although it looked sharper than Ryou's straight hair and Amane's gentle curls. His eyes were a very chilling color, almost the color of mahogany. There should never be that much red in anyone's eyes, Ryou thought with a shudder.

Bakura ceased petting his hair with a smirk. "Well, I want to get back to your sister now. She's a fascinating thing. Mariku, feel free to bring both Ryou and Malik to my room later on, okay? Just…wait a few hours?"

Mariku nodded, and then smirked. "You mean, wait until there isn't any screaming going on?"

"Yup."

-oOo-

**Okay, first of all, no. I am not going to condone pedophilia in this. But in the time period they are in, it is completely possible for a thirteen year old girl to have been married for a while and have children. Hence Bakura's 'I won't feel bad about it later' comment. No, I don't think this will have lemons in it. Maybe. I don't know okay? I would really love it if you reviewed, please! Also I'd like to point out that it's like four in the morning so please excuse any mistakes! **

**R*E*V*I*E*W!**


End file.
